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Unidentified gunmen kill top Kurdish lawyer in SE Turkey

Xinhua, November 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

A leading Kurdish lawyer was killed on Saturday after unknown gunmen opened fire at his gathering in southeastern Turkey, private Dogan News Agency reported.

Tahir Elci, head of the Bar Association in Turkey's southeastern Diyarbakir province, and a number of activists were giving a press statement in Sur district of Diyarbakir province, when unidentified gunmen opened fire at them.

Police at the scene responded by firing back at the attackers, according to the report.

Elci died of gunshot wounds to the head, while a policeman was also killed in the attack.

The top lawyer had been criticized in Turkey for saying the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was not a terrorist organization.

Tensions have been running high, especially in southeastern Turkey, as major military operations against PKK militants have been under way since July after a cease-fire collapsed.

The conflict has left some 40,000 people dead since it began in 1984.

The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. Endit